PALM BEACH BUSINESS

Tara's Lingerie is filled with lacy, seductive things. But at one time, owner Tara McCoy wore a hard hat. She bid for lucrative guardrail contracts with the good ol' boys in her native Tennessee.

McCoy is comfortable dressed up or down, and she is a gutsy entrepreneur.

In December 1993, she opened her lingerie shop at the Regency Court at Woodfield west of Boca Raton.

"I don't mind taking chances trying new things," McCoy said.

McCoy grew up near Nashville. She married at 18 and had two sons, now 17 and 20. Five years after exchanging vows, she became a single mother. McCoy obtained a real estate license and started buying foreclosure properties. When a position as an estimator for state highway work became available she jumped at the opportunity.

After learning the business, McCoy heard that one of her contacts planned to retire.

"He owned a company that installed guardrails on highway projects," she said. "I wanted to buy his company and he said he'd sell it to me if I could get the money."

The bank took McCoy's upcoming contracts as collateral for an equipment loan. Her first job had a $640,000 budget.

"It was the largest guardrail job in the state of Tennessee in the past 20 years," she said.

Instead of resentment from her peers, McCoy said they gave her a chance to prove herself.

"I wasn't there to take their positions. I was only trying to make a living," she said.

For eight years, McCoy ran the Harlan Fence and Guardrail company. With her extra cash she bought rental properties and storage units.

By 1988, McCoy was ready for a lifestyle change.

"The construction business is a rat race," McCoy said. "I was always preplanning jobs and materials to keep my crew working. There was never time I could take off."

McCoy sold her company and most of her properties. And in August 1990 she settled in Boca Raton. It took two years to unwind.

"After my youngest son started high school I realized I couldn't sit home," she said. "I'm not a country club-type person."

McCoy researched the lingerie business and settled on a free-standing shop in an upscale outdoor mall. One might think her competition is Victoria's Secret. She doesn't see it that way.

"They have young styles and an inexpensive product. My store is geared to a more mature clientele who has money to spend," she said.

McCoy said her customers at Tara's Lingerie are discerning. McCoy and her manager, Gerri Suhrland, must know the product lines, fabrics and how to fit them.

"Sometimes it takes a few hours to make a sale," McCoy said. "We don't mind. They expect service and we give it."